Drain pool or chem treat?

[red-beard]

Upload to Youtube, then link it over here

 

[qsmith3741]

Hello all, I hope this is the right forum for this question.
I am mid slam and have noticed a seemingly obvious leak. It appears to be in the crevice of where my skimmer plate is. I’m going to link the video I recorded when I conducted the dye test. There’s putty in the shallow end skimmer which leads me to believe the previous owners found a leak there. When I conducted that dye test in that location, no leak was detected. Below I have linked the YouTube video I took of me conducting the dye test on the deep end skimmer. Is this something I can putty or is it something I’ll have to drain, unscrew and replace the seal. Thanks in advance!

 

[qsmith3741]

here’s the link. I posted a thread in another forum. I’m stumped on what to do

 

[kimkats]

yeppers that is a leak now what to do about it............... My guts says drain the water down below the skimmer and put lots of goop on it and use a toothpick or such to make sure some of it gets inside the holes..........not sure about taking the face plate off as I worry about the liner moving or shifting and causing more problems. What your thoughts on that?

 

[pb4uswim]

Warning - completely uneducated person here. My feeling on just calking the area that appears in the video is that if the seal is broken, it would also be leaking from any area under the face plate. I don't know the construction, but I'd want to replace the entire seal as I don't think it deteriorated in just the area shown.

 

[red-beard]

There is epoxy that will set underwater. I am not certain that it the best fix, but it could work.

Look for moldable epoxy marine in Amazon. Be careful, some are tiny sticks and some are 24 oz cans for not a lot different price.

This says it can be used to seal skimmers.

https://amazon.com/Marine-Underwater-Epoxy-Moldable-Medium/dp/B07BZV948X/

 

[qsmith3741]

Today’s photos. Pressed on what to do about this leak. For now, I’ve plugged it with a cut piece of grocery bag. It’s helping.

 

[qsmith3741]

Today’s update

 

[Snoobug]

Almost there!

 

[qsmith3741]

Still trying to figure out other possibilities for this leak

 

[Newdude]

Still trying to figure out other possibilities for this leak

Once your SLAM is done you can drain below the skimmer, let it dry out REAAAAAAALY good and cut small angled tip on a caulk/silicone tube to force it in there ght now you don’t want to lose any ground in the SLaM battle if it takes 2 or 3 days to dry out and then cure the caulk.

At that time, adding the usual 2-4 ppm FC per day will be much easier to brush around to mix it.

Would it be a big deal to drain it and Gorilla tape it for the time being ?

 

[red-beard]

Or, buy a tiny submersible pump and use that for recirculation.

 

[duckcmmndr]

Still trying to figure out other possibilities for this leak

I have used this in the past:

https://www.amazon.com/J-B-Weld-8277-White-Pack/dp/B07WP67DBV?th=1

Not on a pool...but it was a leak in a water tank and the repair was under water and it worked great. You cut off a small piece and work it like silly putty with your fingers to mix then put it in place. They carry this at most hardware stores.

 

[kellyfair]

Shallow end is looking spectacular- that will soon be your whole pool!

 

[qsmith3741]

thank you all for the advice. I have noticed that my yard is a bit more damp (we’ve also had more rain recently). If I had a leaky pipe, how would i test for that? And estimated repair costs? This pools a drag

 

[red-beard]

One other issue with a "leak" is that the area of the leak is not going to get a good dose of chlorine. It becomes a source! Algae is everywhere. I pulled my old pressure-side pool clean hose apart and found green algae under the nuts. You will probably find it behind your lights. The leak needs to be fixed. I would suggest the "solid epoxy" fix, which works underwater.

 

[Bperry]

Can the screws be tightened any?

 

[qsmith3741]

Can the screws be tightened any?

I will check. The reason I believe that it’s a pipe issue is because, the pool is still losing water after I have plugged the seal with a grocery bag. Although, I believe that it can be leaking through the bag. An area of my yard seems to be holding water more than normal as well

 

[Bperry]

I will check. The reason I believe that it’s a pipe issue is because, the pool is still losing water after I have plugged the seal with a grocery bag. Although, I believe that it can be leaking through the bag. An area of my yard seems to be holding water more than normal as well

Did you block off the skimmer with a bag? Or?

 

[qsmith3741]

Did you block off the skimmer with a bag? Or?

No. I plugged the hole (where the seal used to be) with the bag.